The 2011 film Moneyball dropped on DVD Tuesday. I’ve spent the last 36 hours carefully memorizing every scene and every mannerisms of Jonah Hill’s character displays. But I was weirded out at how the film was prescient enough to include a dramatized version of a conversation between Mike Gillis, Alain Vigneault and Laurence Gilman after the Canucks 5-4 shootout win in Tampa.

Gillis: “I like Cody. But when you play him more than he can take, he’s not as effective when he plays as many minutes. That’s Malhotra’s job, to take on the tough competition.”

Vigneault: “He’s been improving a lot.”

Gillis: “That he has. I don’t disagree. But…”

Vigneault: “But what?”

Gillis: “We blew a third period lead and nearly dropped a second game in a row against a pretty mediocre hockey club. Cody got six shifts in the third, same as Manny. But he also got caught on the ice for a minute-long shift and we gave up a goal. I think Cody’s 16 minutes cost us a regulation win, and those are important now.”

Gillis: “Yes but we don’t count goals and assists as religiously here. We count chances. We pay attention to process, and what leads up to every event. You only have ten sheltered minutes to give out a game. It used to be that those were Cody’s minutes. Then the media challenged you, and you’ve been giving him more.”

Vigneault: “You’d send Cody to Chicago?”

Gillis: “Uh huh. That’s where you can’t mess with his development.”

Gilman: “Look, Alain, there’s only a certain amount of minutes where you can play Cody and ensure he comes out ahead. He’s still too young to be taking on the tough assignments. Do you know who Guy Boucher sent out against him last night?”

Gillis: “Yeah… Boucher would want that matchup, wouldn’t he? Those should be Malhotra’s minutes.”

Gilman: “Malhotra can take the abuse on and off the ice better than Cody can. He plays the tough minutes. That helped us turn our second line into a first line last season, and our third line into a second line this season. But we still need Malhotra on the ice more for this to work. You can put him with anybody but Cody, but he needs those defensive zone starts.”

Vigneault: “Huh? You’re still going on about that?”

Gilman: “Manny’s bad year this season hasn’t been his fault. We keep telling you to start Malhotra in the defensive zone, and he does. He wins those faceoffs. And he starts more in his end of the ice than any player in hockey.”

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